March Favourites!

Morning guys, we have once again reached the last day of the month, which is pay day for me- meaning that my month long bankruptcy has ended. This should hopefully mean that April holds some slightly more exciting blog posts for you all than February and March did, and I already have a couple of Easter themed posts planned for this weekend. Therefore, without further ado- let's look at what I've been loving this month. 

Mac Lipstick in Chilli 

I seem to feature a Mac lipstick in almost every monthly favourites I do now, however since I've been wearing less make-up than usual this month, my lipstick has been the only thing that's really changed a lot. I did a post on my Mac lipstick collection that I'll link here x but Chilli is a gorgeous earthy toned red that I absolutely adore. It's a little twist on the usual red lipstick and it's been brilliant for the last few weeks of wintry weather. 

Topshop Eye Liner

I have taken advantage of my slightly tanned skin this month to tone down my usual full face of makeup, which has meant that most days I've either only worn eye shadow, or only done a simple winged liner. Hence why this little beauty from Topshop has found its way into my favourites for the month. It's got a slightly longer, thinner nib than normal which means it's super precise and it is totally jet black, which is perfect for me. I don't have a lot of Topshop makeup but I'll definitely look into buying more after the success of this. 

Rimmel Brow Kit 

In a truly horrific turn of events, I ended up leaving my brow products, brush and all, in South Africa. This meant that (on an extremely tight budget) I had to run out to Boots and pick up a replacement. This stuff isn't amazing, and I certainly wouldn't recommend the brush that it comes with, but for the price it is one of the best complete brow products I have ever used. I would recommend going the shade lighter than you think you'll be, however, as my 'medium brown' is a bit dark for even my dark brown hair. 

W7 in the Buff Palette 

Another disaster of the SA trip was the breakage of my Naked 2 palette, which I eventually chose to sell as a reduced price on Depop at the start of the month. I then chose to buy Naked 1 instead, as well as this little dupe for the Naked 2. Naked 1 is good, I think I could grow to love it, but I'm not anything like as infatuated with it as I am with this, exceptionally cheap palette from W7. There are a few of these and I'm sure there's a dupe for the Naked 1 and 3 too, but I cannot recommend this one highly enough. They're only about £6 too! 

Big Hero 6 

This is kinda cheating since I actually watched this film on the plane home at the end of February, but I'm going to allow myself to cheat since it's a Disney film and I haven't had a chance to rave about it yet. Before I went away I had planned on taking my little cousin, who's 5, to see this, but upon watching the film I actually think this is a Disney exploit aimed at a slightly older audience than the likes of Frozen. The story is set is a futuristic San Fransokyo and features two brothers, Hiro and Tadashi, and Tadashi's robotic invention Baymax, which is like a personal care robot- aka a big teddy bear like cutie. This film is actually heart-breakingly sad at points, but I won't spoil anything as it's still available in some cinemas to see. However, the thing that I loved the most was how side-splittingly funny some parts are, there is some physical humour with Baymax that is actually hilarious and I was struggling to control myself on the plane in all honesty. Definitely go see it or pick up the DVD if you have a chance!

Eleanor and Park

I finally got the chance to read Rainbow Rowell's famed YA book Eleanor and Park this month, and it didn't disappoint. The book focuses on the love story between Eleanor, a young, unruly girl from a really horribly troubled home, and Park- a high achieving kid with some serious underlying Daddy issues. It's your typical John Green esque love story but I did really enjoy it and there are some lovely scenes. I've also read Fangirl by R.R and she seems to capture the genuine teenage emotions without making it sound corny or cliche. Not going to change your life, but well worth picking up and reading if you're a YA fan!

That 70's Show

This month's answer to 'What show is Rachel marathonning on Netflix?' is That 70's Show. I realize I am way behind the times with this as several of my friends grew up watching the frankly ridiculous show but what can I say, I was raised on a steady diet of Friends episodes. The show follows a group of six friends in their exploits throughout their teenage years in terms of love, school, family and their regular pot fuelled musings in the basement of the protagonist, Eric Foreman. All of the main characters are really lovable and some of the humour is just unbelievably funny. I seem to pretty much constantly have an episode on it in the background and I am getting through it at an alarming rate!

Catfish and the Bottlemen

I feel like I've probably rambled enough about how much I adore this band this month so I won't say much, they featured not only in my review of their gig, but also in my music favourites and my March Round Up. They are genuinely wonderful and you have to go and check them out. Right now. 

I will be back on Thursday with another post for you all but until then, have a lovely week!

March Round-Up

Morning folks, we are once again at the end of the month- which is franky terrifying as I'm now into my final months of school, however it does mean it's time for my usual monthly posts, such as my Favourites which will be up on Tuesday, and today's post- my March round-up.

I haven't had a hugely busy month, as the first couple of weeks were spent recovering from my trip to SA, catching up on school work, TV shows and trying to get both my dissertations done, however the last couple of weeks have been fairly socially active, starting with a party/masquerade ball my friends and I attended a couple of weeks ago.

We went all out and probably (definitely) ended up overdressed, but it was good fun and I can't wait for the similar fancy ball events at Uni next year!

Then last weekend my friend Erin hosted a house party for all of my group, her family are famed for their house parties and they didn't disappoint either. At this time of year the house parties seem to happen quite regularly, which is not something I'm complaining about as I end up with lots of frankly ridiculous pictures of my friends and I. 

I also picked up Alex Salmond's book last week, and as any of you who have read this blog for a while will know, I'm a big SNP supporter. However, regardless of your political persuasion it is incredibly interesting to read about the events and his part in the lead up to what was one of the single biggest political events in Scottish history, the referendum. 

I then had what was undeniably the highlight of my month, my trip to Glasgow Barrowlands to see Catfish and the Bottlemen. I did a blog post on it which I will link here x but it was genuinely one of my favourite gigs ever and I cannot wait to see them play at T in the Park in July!

I also had a birthday party last night for another friend of mine, Stuart, which was yet another success. I had a proper laugh which is always lovely with your best-friends and I do honestly love the silly little house parties that seem to be taking place every couple of weeks now.

Which takes us to today, another lazy Sunday in the Smith household although I do have an exceptional amount of homework/coursework to be done. With that in mind, I will see you all on Tuesday for my monthly favourites! 

Catfish and the Bottlemen: 24th March

Morning folks, as promised I have a review of my visit to Barrowlands in Glasgow to see Catfish and the Bottlemen on Tuesday. Barras is one of my favourite venues and Catfish are one of the best bands around at the moment, making this a gig I was very, very excited for. Unsurprisingly, both delivered and I had an amazing time at what became a proper sweat fest of a gig. There's something strangely homely about a room full of happy, intoxicated, sweaty Glasweigans. 

The band don't actually have many songs as they've only recently released their debut album, although by the way the crowd belted them out- you would have thought that they were all old classics. Nonetheless, the gig didn't feel overly short and any longer would have dramatically increased the likelihood of me actually being killed in a mosh pit. 

My personal favourite moment was Hourglass, which was the one moment in the entire evening where the crowd died down a bit and just stood and screamed out the lyrics to what is perhaps the band's token 'love' song-I included a little, crappy video below. It's always been one of my favourites and the whole atmosphere was so focussed on the band, you really did feel like everyone there was a huge fan of Van and co.  

Little Comets were worthy supports, and their performance, particularly the rendition of their most famous song, The Dancing Song, ensured that everyone didn't flag during the slightly lengthy wait between arrival and Catfish taking the stage. 

I had a really wonderful time and now cannot wait to see the band again at T in the Park this summer, if you haven't already listened to them, then check out their album The Balcony here x and you can thank me later. See you guys on Sunday! 

March Music!

Morning guys, today's post is a little music update for this month. I feel like I haven't done one of these in ages because I missed February but I have lots of amazing new music this month, as well as a bunch of old favourites! 

Hourglass // Catfish and the Bottlemen 

I'm a Ruin // Marina and the Diamonds

Home // Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

Kids // MGMT

Houdini // Foster the People

Lifted Up // Passion Pit 

Cherry Wine // Hozier 

Cocoon // Catfish and the Bottlemen

King // Years and Years 

The Dancing Song // Little Comets 

There we go, my favourite music from this month. I was actually lucky enough to see Catfish and the Bottlemen last night at Barrowlands in Glasgow, so I'll get a little review post about that up for tomorrow! See you guys soon, and have a lovely week!

My Mac Lipstick Collection

Morning folks, as I'm sure many of you are aware, I am a big lipstick junkie, and around a year ago I started buying Mac lipsticks. Soon enough I was completely hooked and I now have a little collection that I'm completely proud of. Let's have a little look at my new fave lippies.

I am missing several of these for pictures as I've left the photography side of the post to the last minute, however I do have (from left to right) Opera, Cyber, Impassioned, Chilli, Ruby Woo. I will ty to update the pictures as soon as I find the others!

Lickable (Cremesheen)

My first Mac purchase, a really gorgeous bright pink that livens up any makeup look. I'm normally not a huge fan of the traditionally girly lipstick but this is super pretty and just dark enough to not make me look like I'm copying Barbie!

Ruby Woo (Matte)

The traditional and possibly the best Mac lipstick, Ruby Woo is the jewel in the crown of Mac's collection. It's a gorgeous, slightly chalky bright red lipstick that, once on, will not budge anywhere! Definitely one of my all time faves. 

Rebel (Satin)

I actually can't find my Rebel lipstick but I used it religiously for a long time and therefore feel like I still have the authority to talk about it. Rebel looks pretty scary in the bullet but once on the lips it's a really gorgeous pinky purple colour that is just the right side of vampy. I'm genuinely considering repurchasing this if I don't find it soon as it is one of my all time favourite lipsticks from any brand.

Cyber (Matte)

I bought Cyber on a bit of a whim because I thought I could pull off a really dark purple lipstick, but it turns out I cant, and Cyber is a proper black-purple colour, which I find is really draggy on the lips and uncomfortable to wear. Definitely not one of my favourites and I'm not sure I would recommend this to anyone as there are much better dark lipsticks for much cheaper.

Impassioned (Amplified)

Another slightly girly choice, impassioned is a matte pink colour that is slightly chalky on the lips but looks an awful lot less like bubblegum on the lips than it does in the packaging. I loved using this in South Africa when I had a bit more of a tan and I'm sure it would look amazing on any of you blonde readers! 

Partyline (Cremesheen)

Partyline is currently residing in my school bag, meaning I don't actually have a picture of my lipstick, however this is quickly becoming a new stable in my daily make-up as it's a gorgeous deep berry colour that is perfect for matching with pretty much any make-up look. This makes it amazing for everyday use and has amazing staying power too, despite being from Mac's Cremesheen collection.  

Kinky (Matte)

Kinky is a truly matte red, like the classic 50's pin up girl red lipstick that every girl dreams of. It's creamier than Ruby Woo but the colour is very similar, if less blue-toned than it's popular counterpart. A truly lovely colour that despite it's slightly ridiculous name, makes a brilliant addition to any lipstick lovers collection!

Velvet Teddy (Matte)

It's not my favourite lipstick ever, but it is a gorgeous nude and one that I've handed on to my friend Alex, who is a much bigger fan of nude lipstick than me. Hence why I don't have an actual picture of the lipstick, however I do believe that if you love the Kylie Jenner look, then it is well worth it's hype and I imagine it would be a perfect browney-nude for all you nude lip lovers out there!

Chilli  (Matte)

One of my newest additions to my collection, and definitely my new favourite. Chill is a gorgeous earthy red colour that looks amazing with a neutral eye colour and wintry rosy cheeks. The earthy tone makes it that little bit different to the classic reds like Ruby Woo and Kinky, but I am honestly obsessed with this. 

Opera 

The packaging for these lipsticks are so gorgeous, and that's approximately 75% of the reason why I bought this product. However the lipstick is also gorgeous and up to Mac's incredibly high standards, I love the Matte finishes most out of all their lipstick types, and Opera is a gorgeous red-y pink, but in contrast to Chilli, this product has a pink-y undertone which I think will be brilliant for the springtime!

There we go, apologies for not having pictures of my actual lipsticks for you all, but I hope you got a decent look at some of my faves from Mac's famous lipstick line. I'm sure this will be greatly expanded in the future, so keep an eye out for an updated version! See you Tuesday!

SPRING WISHLIST

Evening folks, time again for another little blogpost! Despite the weather in Scotland not really showing it, Spring is fast approaching, and I have yet another wishlist for you all! I've done a couple of these in the past, which I'll link here x x, and I love doing them. There are so many things that I love and with each new season, the shops really seem to bring out all the things that catch my eye! Let's have a little look at what I've been lusting after these past few weeks.

Fujifilm Instax Mini 8 in Blue

ASOS Dance With Me Plimsolls 

Paperchase Cosmic Leather Journals

River Island Trench Coat 

Mac Lipstick in Ravishing

Marc Jacobs Daisy Dream

Topshop Scarf Print Sundress

There we go, I'll be back on Sunday with another little post- so I'll see you soon!

Endings

Evening folks, apologies for missing a post but I totally messed up my schedule in my head! I'll blame the fact that I've been focussing on finishing the first drafts of my dissertations for my classes this year. This, and the fact that at 1.30 on a Friday, I'm able to be sitting in Starbucks enjoying a Chai Latte rather than sweating it out in class, is that I am hurtling towards my last days of school. With prom planning, sixth year holiday gossip, and a good dose of pre-exam stress, it's easy to forget that the end of my high school is a huge thing, a real 'end of an era' situation. 

When I first started High school, I hated it, going from a relatively little primary school with about 180 pupils, to a high school of over 1500- was daunting to say the least. I then fell out with most of my friends and made a bit of a mess of being an eleven year old. However, like everyone, I found my market, and unlike the majority of the people on Tumblr, I have truly loved my high school years. I have the most brilliant group of friends and I love the way we all socialise. I'm lucky enough that the majority of my friends live near me so I've had a real neighbourhood feel to growing up and I was able to enjoy the vast majority of my subjects too. Except higher maths. I don't want to talk about higher maths. 

Now, in September I will be heading off to University, most probably in Glasgow- which is one of my favourite cities in the world. Quite a few of my friends are going through to Glasgow too, so I won't be completely alone, but there is a really daunting 'fish out of water' feeling, that sends me right back to that terrified eleven year old standing in the busy concourse full of rowdy, self confident 2nd years who seemed to have it all figured out. Endings suck, and no doubt when Leavers Day and Prom come around, I will be a sobbing wreck. However, if I could tell that scared Eleven year old how amazing the next six years would be, and that that scary concourse would become a crowded, littered second home, then I would. Which I hope means that come Summer 2019, when (hopefully) complete my fourth year of Uni, I will look back and laugh, thinking how stupid I was to think that my high school years were the best, when I still had four amazing years in an amazing city studying something I love to look forward to. No doubt that 21 year old will be scared for entering the world of work properly, but that's life, one scary, and ultimately brilliant, experience after the other. 

That stupid old saying 'One door closes and another one opens' may be cliched, but cliches are cliche for a reason, and hopefully you guys can come along with me over my next four years of hangovers, rushed deadlines and ultimately messing up whilst blogging a whole lot more. 

I'm planning on enjoying the next few months of high school safety, but I also cannot wait for what's still to come. 

See you guys on Sunday!! 

Fabulous Finds!

Morning folks, I hope you're all having a lovely week! Today's post is about a new collection from Penguin that I found in my local Waterstones this week. The collection is of 80 short stories by varying authors from the last 200 or so years. The best part about the collection is the price, these books retail at a mere 80p each. Yes, you heard me right, you can pick up 10 of these gorgeous little black books for a mere £8. 

The selection of books won't be to everyone's taste for sure, with a lot of them being by authors of classics, and there's a few political books in there too. I picked up the Communist Manifesto as it's something I've been interested in since I did Russian history in fourth year, and I'm doing history at University from September this year. 

I love any idea that means that books are a little bit more accessible and since books have become so expensive in recent years, it's nice to see Penguin having the initiative to offer something different! 

I really love this idea and you should definitely go pick up a few of the books if you can get them in a shop near you! I'll link the online purchase link here. Have a good week guys!! 

High End Haul

Hey folks, look at me- two posts on the right days, IN A ROW. It's a blogging miracle. Today's post is a high end haul as I was a little bit idiotic this week and spent almost £70 overall on two Mac lipsticks and I finally treated myself to Urban Decay's original Naked Palette. 

Mac Matte Lipstick in Chilli 

This was a completely ridiculous purchase as it was only really bought in order to take the total over Mac's £30 free shipping barrier, however it is a gorgeous colour. It's from the Mac collection and is a really lovely warm red lipstick that I think would look gorgeous on somebody with red hair. However, it is undeniably beautiful and I cannot wait to wear it! Well worth getting my free delivery for, even though it did involve spending an extra £12.50, Smith logic. 

Mac Matte Lipstick (Toledo Collection) in Opera

Ahh the packaging for these lipsticks are so gorgeous, and that's approximately 75% of the reason why I bought this product. However the lipstick is also gorgeous and up to Mac's incredibly high standards, I love the Matt finishes most out of all their lipstick types, and Opera is a gorgeous red-y pink, but in contrast to Chilli, this product has a pink-y undertone which I think will be brilliant for the springtime!

Urban Decay Naked Palette

This is the ultimate holy grail product for all beauty bloggers and make-up enthusiasts, I finally caved and bought the first Naked palette after my Naked 2 Palette got a little bit broken whilst I was in South Africa. This is a truly gorgeous product and I certainly don't need to talk about how lovely it is, as there are many, many reviews on the internet that could tell you just how amazing it looks on. 

So there you go, a little look at how I waste my wages. Jokes aside, all of these products are simply gorgeous and I would firmly recommend them all. See you Tuesday!

Trip of a Lifetime

Hey folks, once again I'm so sorry that I've had a little bit of a break from blogging and I need to get back on track! Here is my much promised post on my trip to South Africa with my school last month. We started off our journey in a town called Douglas, near the township where our link school, Bongani High, is situated. This was absolutely amazing and it was so incredibly lovely seeing the South African children that had travelled over to Scotland in September again. 

After a wonderful week in Douglas, we took a six hour bus journey South to the Karoo (not the Kruger) National Park- this was really only a stop over but the scenery was impressive and we went on a Zebra spotting game drive. 

After the Karoo we had another six hour bus journey (by this stage we were very used to sitting on our arses!) to Cape Town. Here we visited Robben Island, where Mandela was imprisoned, went up Table Mountain and visited the impressive V+A Waterfront Shopping Centre (where you could easily spend two weeks by itself!)

I had an amazing time with some really amazing people and I wish I could do it all over again. The pictures don't do the place justice but South Africa is an amazing country that has seen more political development in the past twenty years than in the 300 before that. The inequalities that were so clear in Bongani were a stark contrast to the wealth of Cape Town but no matter where you are you are aware that the South Africans are an amazing group, and I cannot recommend visiting enough!